Buncombe County reports six measles cases; public exposures at hospital and grocery store

Buncombe County health staff said the county was “still holding, 6 cases” of measles and has roughly 79 people in quarantine as health officials work contact-tracing and public notification efforts.

The county announced that one early case presented to Mission Hospital’s emergency department and that people registered during two time windows on Jan. 16 should contact the county’s single Buncombe hotline if they have not already been contacted. Health officials also reported a public exposure at the Food Lion in Candler on Jan. 13 from about 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and asked anyone who was at those locations at those times — and has not been contacted — to call for assessment.

Alice, a county health staff member who delivered the update, said the school context remains a particular concern: one private school involved in recent outbreaks has an estimated 40% vaccination rate. The county previously issued 176 quarantine orders related to a December varicella outbreak there and has since issued quarantines for additional groups not presumed immune.

State-level spread is larger: county presenters said the majority of North Carolina cases are linked to a large South Carolina outbreak that had reported hundreds of cases. Officials warned that because recent exposures fall within the measles monitoring window, new cases could still appear through the observation period (county staff cited Feb. 7 as the tail end of monitoring for some exposures).

County public-health teams described an incident management structure for response and said they are coordinating town halls and partner calls with schools, childcare providers, the Chamber of Commerce, faith leaders, municipal cooperators and detention center staff to share guidance and materials. The county also pointed residents to a newly launched state measles dashboard that lists county cases and public-exposure locations.

A board member cited hospitalization and complication risk; county staff noted measles is most dangerous for very young children and can lead to pneumonia and encephalitis. Officials said hospitalization rates in the U.S. outbreak have been significant and urged caution among parents and caregivers.

The county asked anyone present in the specified ED or Food Lion time windows who was not contacted to call the Buncombe public-health hotline for assessment and further instructions. The county plans to continue monitoring and public notifications as contact investigations progress.